U.S. patent number 11,450,416 [Application Number 15/391,552] was granted by the patent office on 2022-09-20 for location-based healthcare system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to CERNER INNOVATION, INC.. The grantee listed for this patent is CERNER INNOVATION, INC.. Invention is credited to Thampuraj Dharmamoorthy, Mahesh Vilas Kotekar, Krishna Kumar, Satya Krishna Pillarisetty, Pradeep Premakumar.
United States Patent |
11,450,416 |
Pillarisetty , et
al. |
September 20, 2022 |
Location-based healthcare system
Abstract
A computerized method is presented for communicating an alert to
an individual of a medical-related risk and storing in the
individual's healthcare records information related to the
individual's exposure to the medical-related risk. The method
comprises constantly monitoring the individual's location;
receiving an environmental report from a service provider
containing current environmental factors, where the report is
associated with an area; determining that the individual is within
or proximate to the area associated with the report; retrieving
medical records for the individual; determining, according to the
medical records, that the environmental factors pose a
medical-related risk to the individual; communicating the alert to
the individual of the medical-related risk associated with the
area; determining the individual was exposed to the medical-related
risk; storing in the individual's healthcare records information
related to the exposure. The methods may also comprise recommending
orders, based on the exposure, for a medical professional to
write.
Inventors: |
Pillarisetty; Satya Krishna
(Bangalore, IN), Kumar; Krishna (Bangalore,
IN), Kotekar; Mahesh Vilas (Bangalore, IN),
Premakumar; Pradeep (Bangalore, IN), Dharmamoorthy;
Thampuraj (Bangalore, IN) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CERNER INNOVATION, INC. |
Kansas City |
KS |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
CERNER INNOVATION, INC. (North
Kansas City, MO)
|
Family
ID: |
1000006573985 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/391,552 |
Filed: |
December 27, 2016 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20180181713 A1 |
Jun 28, 2018 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G16H
50/30 (20180101); G16H 40/67 (20180101); G16H
10/60 (20180101); G16H 50/80 (20180101) |
Current International
Class: |
G16H
10/60 (20180101); G16H 50/80 (20180101); G16H
50/30 (20180101); G16H 40/67 (20180101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
Final Office Action received for U.S. Appl. No. 15/392,720, dated
Dec. 23, 2019, 19 pages. cited by applicant .
Non-Final Office Action received for U.S. Appl. No. 15/392,720,
dated Oct. 6, 2020, 21 pages. cited by applicant .
Notice of Allowance received for U.S. Appl. No. 15/392,720, dated
Jul. 22, 2021, 10pages. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Tomaszewski; Michael
Assistant Examiner: Monticello; William T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable
instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method
for improving medical records of an individual based on
location-specific risks, the method comprising: obtaining from a
mobile device a location of the individual; retrieving from a
record-keeping database a medical-related information comprising a
predisposition unique to the individual to certain ailments linked
with an environmental factor associated with the individual,
wherein the retrieving of medical-related information is prompted
by the obtaining of the location of the individual by the one or
more computer storage media; retrieving from a service provider an
environmental report for the location of the individual, wherein
the environmental report further comprises one or more of the
environmental factor; determining, at a device, based on the
medical-related information and the environmental factor, that an
exposure to the environmental factor at the location of the
individual exceeds a safety threshold posing a medical risk to the
individual based on the predisposition unique to the individual
linked with the environmental factor; and automatically initiating,
at a device, a medical order in the record-keeping database for the
individual related to the exposure to the environmental factor
based on determining the exposure to the environmental factor at
the location of the individual exceeds the safety threshold posing
a medical risk to the individual based on the predisposition unique
to the individual.
2. The media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the
step of communicating, to a medical provider, information
associated with exposure of the individual to the environmental
factor.
3. The media of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises the
step of recommending, to the medical provider, orders for the
individual based on exposure of the individual to the environmental
factors and based on one or more stored consent configurations
associated with the individual.
4. The media of claim 1, wherein the record-keeping database is an
electronic medical record (EMR) system.
5. A computerized method for communicating an alert to an
individual of a medical-related risk, the method comprising:
receiving a hazard report from a service provider, wherein the
hazard report is associated with an area; retrieving an
individual-specific location from a mobile device associated with
the individual; determining that the individual-specific location
is within or proximate to the area associated with the hazard
report; retrieving from a record-keeping database a medical-related
information comprising a predisposition unique to the individual to
certain ailments linked with an environmental factor associated
with the individual; based at least in part on the medical-related
information associated with the individual and the hazard report,
determining that the area poses the medical-related risk to the
individual based on the predisposition unique to the individual
linked with the environmental factor; retrieving a threshold
configuration for the individual; determining, at a device, based
on the area, the threshold configuration, and the
individual-specific location, that the individual was exposed to
the medical-related risk above a threshold; and automatically
initiating, at a device, a medical order in the record-keeping
database for the individual related to the exposure to the
environmental factor based on determining that the individual was
exposed to the medical-related risk at the individual-specific
location based on the predisposition unique to the individual above
the threshold.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the medical-related risk is at
least one of an allergen, a dangerous ultraviolet index, a
dangerous air pollution index, a bacterial outbreak, a viral
outbreak, a fungal outbreak, and an algal bloom.
7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of
communicating to the record-keeping database instructions to store,
in association with the individual, information related to exposure
to the medical-related risk.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises the
step of communicating, to a medical provider, information related
to exposure of the individual to the medical-related risk.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of providing a
recommendation, to the medical provider, orders for the individual
based on exposure of the individual to the medical-related risk and
the predisposition unique to the individual.
10. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of providing
a suggestion to the individual.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the suggestion comprises
instructions to move from a first location to a second location,
and wherein the second location reduces or eliminates exposure of
the individual to the medical-related risk.
12. A computerized system comprising: a mobile device configured to
monitor location of an individual; one or more processors; and
computer storage memory having computer-executable instructions
stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, implement a
method for tracking exposure of the individual to environmental
events that create a medical-related risk to the individual, the
method comprising: receiving a hazard report from a service
provider, wherein the hazard report is associated with an area and
an environmental factor; retrieving in approximately real-time an
individual-specific location from the mobile device associated with
the individual; determining that the individual-specific location
is within or proximate to the area associated with the hazard
report; retrieving from a record-keeping database medical-related
information comprising a predisposition unique to the individual to
certain ailments linked with the environmental factor associated
with the individual; based at least in part on the medical-related
information associated with the individual and the hazard report,
determining, at a device, that the environmental factor at the
location of the individual exceeds a safety threshold and poses the
medical-related risk to the individual based on the predisposition
unique to the individual linked with the environmental factor; and
automatically initiating, at a device, a medical order in the
record-keeping database for the individual-related to the exposure
to the environmental factor at the location of the individual when
the exposure to the environmental factor at the location of the
individual exceeds the safety threshold posing a medical risk based
on the predisposition unique to the individual.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of
providing a suggestion to the individual, wherein the suggestion
comprises instructions for the individual to begin or alter a
preventative medication.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of
determining, based on the area and the individual-specific
location, that the individual was exposed to the medical-related
risk.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of
communicating to the record-keeping database instructions to store,
in association with the individual, information related to exposure
to the medical-related risk.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises
the step of communicating, to a medical provider, information
related to exposure of the individual to the medical-related
risk.
17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of
recommending, to the medical provider, orders for the individual
based on exposure of the individual to the medical-related
risk.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of
providing a suggestion to the individual, wherein the suggestion
comprises instructions to move from a first location to a second
location, and wherein the second location reduces or eliminates
exposure of the individual to the medical-related risk.
19. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the
predisposition to certain ailments comprises previous and current
diagnosis for the individual.
Description
BACKGROUND
The largest drivers of healthcare cost are over diagnosis and over
treatment. Patients are receiving care that is sometimes
ineffective and sometimes unsafe. But the truth is that many of the
tests and procedures ordered by medical practitioners are wasteful,
unnecessary, and potentially harmful. A missing link in treatment
or care delivery can be the cause of over diagnosis, which is both
economically and physically harmful to a patient. Part of the
problem is that in many cases, physicians don't feel clinically
certain about what's occurring with the patient, and they're not
willing to rest with that uncertainty. Thus, physicians feel that
they need to do more tests and refer patients to specialists.
According to studies, environmental factors are a root cause of
over diagnosis and cost--particularly in developing countries.
Patient exposure to environmental or occupational hazards can set
off predisposed ailments or create entirely new ailments, and is a
primary concern in preventative healthcare. Environmental impacts
are estimated to cause about 25% of death and disease globally, and
could reach nearly 35%. It is estimated that one-fifth of the
healthcare budget is being consumed by tests and procedures ordered
by medical practitioners in trying to identify conditions that are
set off by environmental or ecosystem interaction.
There is currently no mechanism that facilitates preventative
healthcare based on patient locations to assist physicians in
diagnosing the cause of a patient's conditions or ailments that may
be associated with environmental factors. A location-based system
that monitors exposure to certain environmental factors and assess
patient risk based on medical information would assist physicians
in diagnosing particular ailments and reduce inappropriate
diagnostic procedures, ultimately promoting decision accuracy and
diagnosis for better care delivery. Furthermore, a location-based
healthcare system, by aggregating data from multiple patients in a
given location, would be capable of predicting an outbreak with
greater accuracy and in less time than current measures of
physician communication and centralized databases.
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present application generally relates to media, systems, and
methods for various embodiments of a location-based healthcare
system. In one embodiment, a computerized method for improving
medical records of an individual is presented. The method of this
embodiment comprises: obtaining from a mobile device a location of
the individual; retrieving from a record-keeping database
medical-related information associated with the individual;
retrieving from a service provider an environmental report for the
location of the individual, wherein the environmental report
comprises one or more environmental factors; determining, based on
the medical-related information associated with the individual,
that an exposure to the environmental factor poses a medical risk;
and based on determining the medical risk, communicating
instructions to the record-keeping database to store, in
association with the individual, information related to the
exposure to the environmental factor.
In another embodiment, a computerized method for communicating an
alert to an individual of a medical-related risk is presented. In
this embodiment, the method comprises: receiving a hazard report
from a service provider, wherein the hazard report is associated
with an area; retrieving an individual-specific location from a
mobile device associated with the individual; determining that the
individual-specific location is within or proximate to the area
associated with the hazard report; retrieving from a record-keeping
database a medical-related information associated with the
individual; based at least in part on the medical-related
information associated with the individual and the hazard report,
determining that the area poses the medical-related risk to the
individual; and communicating the alert to the individual of the
medical-related risk associated with the area.
Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the various
embodiments are described below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present application is described in detail below with reference
to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing environment
suitable to implement embodiments of the various embodiments;
FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary location-based
health system;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary location-based health
system;
FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for retrieving and
storing a patient's location information in association with the
patient's healthcare information; and
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for communicating an
alert to a patient based on a location-specific risk to the
patient.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The subject matter of the present application is described with
specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the
description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this
patent. Rather, the claimed subject matter might also be embodied
in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps
similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with
other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the term
"step" may be used to connote different elements of methods
employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any
particular order among or between various steps unless it
explicitly described that the order of the steps is critical for
implementing an embodiment.
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to
methods, systems, and computer-readable media for a system and
method for improving the healthcare records of a patient by storing
patient location information and hazardous exposure that may be
associated with medical risks. Some embodiments alert or warn a
patient of a medical-related risk associated with an area. Some
embodiments provide physicians or medical providers with alerts or
recommendations for orders or suggested care associated with
patient aliments or symptoms based on exposure to a
location-specific contagion. Some embodiments provide instructions
to store information related to location-specific exposure to
certain environmental events on a health-records database
associated with a patient. Other embodiments may determine, based
on an aggregate of patient information, that a particular ailment
or contagion is increasing in a particular area, and it may provide
for an alert to others in the area or other entities of a potential
endemic.
An exemplary computing environment suitable for use in implementing
embodiments of the present invention is described below. FIG. 1 is
an exemplary computing environment (e.g., medical-information
computing-system environment) with which embodiments of the present
invention may be implemented. The computing environment is
illustrated and designated generally as reference numeral 100. The
computing environment 100 is merely an example of one suitable
computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation
as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention. Neither
should the computing environment 100 be interpreted as having any
dependency or requirement relating to any single component or
combination of components illustrated therein.
The present invention is a special computing system that can
leverage well-known computing system environments or
configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems,
environments, and/or configurations that might be suitable for use
with the present invention include personal computers, server
computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer
electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,
distributed computing environments that include any of the
above-mentioned systems or devices, and the like.
The present invention might be described in the context of
computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being
executed by a computer. Exemplary program modules comprise
routines, programs, objects, components, and data structures that
perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data
types. The present invention might be practiced in distributed
computing environments where tasks are performed by remote
processing devices that are linked through a communications
network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules
might be located in association with local and/or remote computer
storage media (e.g., memory storage devices).
With continued reference to FIG. 1, the computing environment 100
comprises a computing device in the form of a control server 102.
Exemplary components of the control server 102 comprise a
processing unit, internal system memory, and a suitable system bus
for coupling various system components, including data store 104,
with the control server 102. The system bus might be any of several
types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory
controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus, using any of a
variety of bus architectures. Exemplary architectures comprise
Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel
Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronic
Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component
Interconnect (PCI) bus, also known as Mezzanine bus.
The control server 102 typically includes therein, or has access
to, a variety of non-transitory computer-readable media.
Computer-readable media can be any available media that might be
accessed by control server 102, and includes volatile and
nonvolatile media, as well as, removable and nonremovable media. By
way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may
comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer
storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and
non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for
storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data
structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media
includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or
other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or
other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,
magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any
other medium which can be used to store the desired information and
which can be accessed by control server 102. Communication media
typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures,
program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a
carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any
information delivery media. The term "modulated data signal" means
a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed
in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of
example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired
media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and
wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless
media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included
within the scope of computer-readable media.
The control server 102 might operate in a computer network 106
using logical connections to one or more remote computers 108.
Remote computers 108 might be located at a variety of locations in
a medical or research environment, including clinical laboratories
(e.g., molecular diagnostic laboratories), hospitals and other
inpatient settings, veterinary environments, ambulatory settings,
medical billing and financial offices, hospital administration
settings, home healthcare environments, and clinicians' offices.
Clinicians may comprise a treating physician or physicians;
specialists such as surgeons, radiologists, cardiologists, and
oncologists; emergency medical technicians; physicians' assistants;
nurse practitioners; nurses; nurses' aides; pharmacists;
dieticians; microbiologists; laboratory experts; laboratory
technologists; genetic counselors; researchers; veterinarians;
students; and the like. The remote computers 108 might also be
physically located in nontraditional medical care environments so
that the entire healthcare community might be capable of
integration on the network. The remote computers 108 might be
personal computers, servers, routers, network PCs, peer devices,
other common network nodes, or the like and might comprise some or
all of the elements described above in relation to the control
server 102. The devices can be personal digital assistants or other
like devices.
Computer networks 106 comprise local area networks (LANs) and/or
wide area networks (WANs). Such networking environments are
commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks,
intranets, and the Internet. When utilized in a WAN networking
environment, the control server 102 might comprise a modem or other
means for establishing communications over the WAN, such as the
Internet. In a networking environment, program modules or portions
thereof might be stored in association with the control server 102,
the data store 104, or any of the remote computers 108. For
example, various application programs may reside on the memory
associated with any one or more of the remote computers 108. It
will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the
network connections shown are exemplary and other means of
establishing a communications link between the computers (e.g.,
control server 102 and remote computers 108) might be utilized.
In operation, an organization might enter commands and information
into the control server 102 or convey the commands and information
to the control server 102 via one or more of the remote computers
108 through input devices, such as a keyboard, a microphone (e.g.,
voice inputs), a touch screen, a pointing device (commonly referred
to as a mouse), a trackball, or a touch pad. Other input devices
comprise satellite dishes, scanners, or the like. Commands and
information might also be sent directly from a remote healthcare
device to the control server 102. In addition to a monitor, the
control server 102 and/or remote computers 108 might comprise other
peripheral output devices, such as speakers and a printer.
Although many other internal components of the control server 102
and the remote computers 108 are not shown, such components and
their interconnection are well known. Accordingly, additional
details concerning the internal construction of the control server
102 and the remote computers 108 are not further disclosed
herein.
Turning now to FIG. 2, a high-level flow chart describing one
embodiment of a location-based health system 200 is presented. As
shown in this embodiment, the location-based health system 200 may
comprise a Location-Based Health Data Integration System (LBHDIS)
210. The LBHDIS 210 may be in communication with a location
tracking device 230, which monitors the location of the patient
240. In addition, the LBHDIS 210 may also communicate with other
application programming interface (API) services, devices, and
wearables 260. The LBHDIS 210 may communicate with an alert engine
270. In some embodiments, the alert engine 270 uses defined rules
and categories of various alerts generated from the LBHDIS 260. The
alert engine 270 may communicate with an alert service 280. Both
the alert service 280 and the LBHDIS 210 may communicate with an
electronic medical record (EMR) system 220. The EMR system 220, in
some embodiments, may comprise information associated with patient
ailments 222; patient genomic sequencing, patient aliment mapping,
and predictability range definition 224; and/or patient location
tracking information 226.
Turning now to FIG. 3, another embodiment of a location-based
health system 300 is described in further detail. This embodiment
comprises a location-based health service interface 305, which
comprises a number of components; notably an LBHDIS 310, a service
consumer component 320, a patient location tracking component 330,
an alert engine 370, and a consent-based alert service 375. The
location-based health service interface 305, in some embodiments,
may communicate with an EMR service 315, devices and wearable 321;
3.sup.rd party services such as 322-325; or more generally any
database or service that may provide information helpful for
determining a patient's exposure to a potentially hazardous
condition related to a particular location or may assist a
healthcare provider in providing patient healthcare.
Beginning with the LBHDIS 310, the LBHDIS 310 may receive
information associated with the location of a patient 340 from a
location tracking device 335. The location tracking device 335 may
be any device capable of determining and transmitting location
information of the patient 340. These devices are generally known
and readily available, and may include mobile phones, tablets,
smart watches, etc. These devices may determine location in a
number of different manners, such as Bluetooth, Infrared, GPS, etc.
It should be readily known to one skilled in the art that the
location tracking device 335 and the method by which it determines
location is not limited to the devices stated in this application
and can include future location tracking systems having the ability
to communicate the location of the patient 340. Additionally,
information associated with the location of the patient 340 may be
communicated from the location tracking device 335 to a patient
location tracking component 330. The location may be monitored on a
real-time basis or may be monitored intermittently. The patient
location tracking component 330 may store the location information
and/or may communicate the location information to the LBHDIS 310.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the location information may be
directly communicated from the location tracking device 335 to the
LBHDIS 310.
A service consumer component 320 may also receive information
associated with the patient location, such as clinically
significant information from devices or wearables 321. The
clinically significant information may be any information regarding
factors that contribute to an ailment or would help a medical
provider in diagnosing an ailment or provide healthcare services.
Some non-limiting examples of clinically significant information
could be the amount of time the patient 340 is exposed to the sun;
the amount of exercise the patient 340 receives; the weight gain or
weight loss of the patient 340 over time; a change in the patient's
body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate; etc. This information
may be gathered by wearable devices. These devices may be the same
the mobile devices described above. These wearable devices may also
include other devices designed to capture information about the
patient 340 or the patient's 340 external environmental
surroundings, including external devices, such as heart-rate
monitors, blood pressure monitors, air-quality monitors, UV
sensors, etc. These wearable devices are not limited to external
devices as described, but may include surgically implanted devices,
such as pace makers, pain pumps, insulin pumps, etc. Additionally,
in some embodiments, these devices may work together to communicate
information about the patient 340 to the service consumer component
320. For example, an internal insulin pump might communicate via
short distance communication methods to a mobile device, which
might, in turn, relay the information to the service consumer
component 320 via a long distance communication method.
The service consumer component 320 may also receive information
about the patient's 340 surroundings from API's, for example a
third-party service, such as UV radiation services, location-based
information for outbreak and pandemic alerts from the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC), GPS based chemical hazard services 324, and
any future GPS or location-based service 325. Other examples of
APIs might include weather and new reporting services. It should be
understood that the number of APIs delivering information to the
service consumer component 320 can be virtually unlimited and may
deliver various types of location-based information.
Once information is received, in some embodiments the service
consumer component 320 may communicate to a configuration and
mapping system 356, which may communicate with the LBHDIS 310. The
configuration and mapping system 356 may be comprised of multiple
components, such as components for ailment hazard mapping 351,
ailments orders mapping 352, environmental hazard location mapping
353, outbreak location mapping 354, and threshold alert
configuration module 355.
The ailments hazard mapping component 351 may be a configuration
system or mapping of all the ailments and its associated
environmental hazards based on information received from the
service consumer component 320 or other sources, including being
downloaded from medical-based information sources. For example, if
a person is suffering from allergy condition such as asthma, the
hazards listed for this particular ailment might be pollens, dusts,
air pollutions, seasonal changes, wind, temperature, altitude,
etc.
The ailments order mapping component 352 may be the module which
maps lists of ailments with recommended orders list 393. The mapped
data can be retrieved from cloud service 350 through analytics data
gathered across multiple clinics who are interested in publishing
recommended orders for given ailments. For example, if a person is
arriving from a location with an endemic disease or outbreak, an
associated recommended list of orders required for that particular
endemic disease or outbreak may be provided.
The environmental hazard location mapping component 353 may be
mapped data that contains all environmental hazards associated with
a given location. This data may be gathered from datasets provided
by service providers to identify hazard locations. For example, the
services may include UV index level, water contamination across the
given location, pollen count, noxious gases, etc. The environmental
hazard location mapping component 353 may also utilize an aggregate
of data across multiple patients using location history and may
signal that an alert is needed for others in the same location.
The outbreak location mapping component 354 may gather data from
external services available today and future services, such as the
APIs, patient location tracking devices and wearables, to identify
endemic disease outbreak at a given location. It may also contain
additional details required for more precise clinical decisions. At
a higher level this module may contain mapping of outbreak diseases
associated with given location as well. In one example, information
from the CDC regarding a pandemic or epidemic associated with a
specific area may be communicated to the outbreak location mapping
component 354. In another example, the outbreak location mapping
component 354 may determine a risk of an epidemic based on an
aggregate of clinically signification information from devices and
wearables 321 across many patients in a particular region that may
have similar changes in clinically significant information.
The threshold alert configuration module 355 may contain
configuration data associated with individual hazards. The
threshold value defines what level of exposure and the duration of
that exposure that may constitute a hazard to the person.
Turning back now to the LBHDIS 310 part of the location-based
health service interface 305, the LBHDIS 310 may communicate with
an alert engine 370. The alert engine 370, may be the part of the
system that comprises well-defined rules and categories of various
alerts generated from LBHDIS 310. The alert engine 370 may be
responsible for sending alert data to reporting services through
which many entities consume services, such as person, EMR,
physician, hospital, pharmacy etc. The alert engine 370 may contain
further categories of information, such as, recommendation orders
371, ailment hazard 372, outbreak information 373, and/or
environmental warnings 374. For example, the alert recommendation
orders 371 may be the part of alert system that is responsible for
gathering enough information to ensure that it provides a list of
recommended orders gathered from configuration and mapping 350-355
to the EMR service 315 for accurate clinical decision support and
support physician diagnosis decisions. A real-world example might
be: if a person is visiting hospital after her travel to a location
where an Ebola outbreak has occurred. The data will be captured by
the LBHDIS 310 during the person's visit based on the location
tracking of the person. Subsequently, a recommended list of orders
may be generated and suggested to physician based on the person's
consents.
The alert engine 370 may also contain an ailment hazard component
372. The ailment hazard component 372 may be responsible for
sending alerts based on a location hazard that can trigger or
aggravate the conditions within the patient 340. For example, the
patient 340 may have asthma. Based on information received by APIs
322-325 and delivered to the LBHDIS 310, the pollen count of the
particular location may be high enough to aggravate the symptoms of
the asthmatic. Thus, an alert may be generated and communicated to
the patient 340 or another, based on consents, that the pollen
count is too high. In another embodiment, an alert or suggestion
may communicate to the patient 340 that preventative medications
should be increased to avoid having to use a rescue inhaler.
Further, the alert engine 370 may comprise an outbreak alert
component 373. This component may be responsible for generating an
alert to persons within a specific area that an epidemic may be
associated with a particular area. The alert might suggest that
persons move to another area that is not associated with the
outbreak and may recommend moving to an area where the hazard has
not occurred. Similarly, the alert engine 370 may contain an alert
type or component for environmental warnings 374. Like the outbreak
alert component 373, the environmental warning component 374 may
communicate an alert based on environmental factors, such as
pollens, water pollution, air pollution, noxious gas contamination,
or UV exposure, or other environmental factors that may pose
potential harm to a patient. The environmental warning component
374 may communicate or suggest that persons move to another area
that is not associated with the environmental hazard and may
recommend moving to safer area, such as indoors.
The alert engine 370 may also communicate with patient consent
configurations on the consent-based alert service 375 to ensure the
alert messages are sent to respective entities based on the consent
configuration. For example, the patient 340 may consent to having
the location information delivered to a primary care physician when
the patient location is associated with an outbreak.
Turning now to the EMR service 315, which may be in communication
with the location-based health service interface 305, the EMR
service 315, in some embodiments, may comprise an EMR database 385.
The EMR database 385 may store or be in communication with another
database that stores information related to a person's consent
configuration 388, sequencing data and threshold configuration 386,
patient ailments data 387, genomic sequencing data 389 that may be
provided by genomic sequencing services 390, and other information,
such as location base hazard trends 391, patient exposed hazard
location 392, recommended orders list 393, and endemic/pandemic
outbreak location 394.
The sequencing data and threshold configuration 386 may provide a
mechanism to get a patient's complete sequencing data and, based on
the analysis, may provide predictable variants data along with
threshold percentages. The medical provider or the system may help
in identifying each of the predictable conditions with higher
threshold, and may help to store it as part of a patient ailment
record 387. The patient ailment record 387 may store information
collected by the EMR service 315, including all the ailments
associated with the patient 340 and hold this information for
future analyses.
Similarly, the EMR database 315 may store or communicate with
another database that stores the person consent configuration 388.
The patient may choose to personalize the consent information so as
to maintain privacy. The patient may choose to have alerts sent
only to the patient, or choose to have the alerts sent to a primary
care physician, or another physician of the patient's choosing.
More generally, the patient may personalize how the medical
information is to be distributed in any fashion. Accordingly, the
patient may also consent to have their location monitored but may
not allow that location information to be shared; instead, only
allowing exposure information to be shared with others of the
patient's choosing. Alternatively, the patient may alter the
consent configurations such that information is only shared with
others when exposures to hazards create a certain threshold of risk
to the patient.
The EMR service 315 may also include genomic sequencing data 389.
The genomic sequencing data 389 may be stored or received from a
genomic sequencing service 390. The genomic sequencing data 389 may
be one of various types of patient-specific information that is
housed or retrieved by the EMR service 315. Patient-specific data,
such as this, may be used by the location-based health service
interface 305 to determine that a particular individual may be at a
higher risk or predisposition to certain ailments, and may
determine an alert is necessary based on information received from
the service consumer component 320, the location tracking device
335 and/or the configuration and mapping system 356, described
above. Once an alert is determined, the alert may be communicated
via an alert service 380, which may be in communication with the
location-based health service interface 305 and/or the EMR service
315. The alert may be communicated to any person or entity based on
the patient consent configurations 388. These include, but are not
limited to, physicians, care providers, insurers, hospitals,
emergency department, etc. The location-based health service
interface 305 and/or the EMR service 315 may be a computing system
such as that described in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of a computerized method for
utilizing an embodiment of a location-based healthcare system, such
as the two exemplary embodiments described in FIGS. 2-3. For
example, a general computer, such as that described by the
computing environment in FIG. 1, may be contain computer-executable
instructions embodied that execute a method for improving medical
records of an individual or patient based on location-specific
risks posed to the patient. In step 400 of FIG. 4, the computer may
be instructed to obtain from a mobile device the location of a
patient. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the computer may
receive information associated with a patient's location, which may
then prompt the computer to continue with step 410.
In step 410 of the exemplary method of FIG. 4, the computer
retrieves from a database, the medical records or health
information of the patient. As seen in the embodiment of FIG. 3,
this step may be performed when the location-based health service
interface 305 retrieves the medical records or health-related
information of the patient from the EMR service 315. Similarly, in
step 420 of FIG. 4, the method may comprise retrieving from a
service provider an environmental report for the location of the
patient. The service provider may be the APIs previously discusses,
e.g., a third party that may deliver reports about environmental
conditions or factors, such as pollen count, UV index, city
pollution reports, etc.
Step 430 of FIG. 4 may comprise determining, based on the medical
records or information of the patient, that the patient's exposure
to certain environmental conditions or factors at the patient's
location may pose a risk to the patient. The risk may be the type
of risk that would affect all persons in the area, such as a viral
outbreak. Alternatively, it may pose a patient-specific risk, such
as a UV index that is too high for a patient currently undergoing
chemotherapy to be outside for an extended amount of time. In some
embodiments, a patient-specific risk may be predefined in the
medical records. In other embodiments, the patient-specific risk
may be determined by a location-based service interface that
associates certain diagnoses with certain risks, such as
determining from the medical records that a patient has asthma and
associated a risk of exposure to a particular environmental pollen
level.
Under step 440, the medical records for the patient may be improved
by having the location-based service interface communicate with the
EMR service that a patient has been exposed to a patient specific
risk, such as that determined by step 430, and instructing the EMR
service to store the information associated with the patient for
future access, e.g., by a physician, a hospital, an insurance
company, or the patient.
In some embodiments an additional step of communicating an alert to
the patient may be provided, such as step 450 of FIG. 4. The alert
may be in any form that signals to the patient that a
patient-specific risk might be present. Some examples of alerts
might include text messages, emails, phone calls, social media
status changes, etc. Additionally, the alert may also be provided
to other entities, such as hospitals in the surrounding area,
primary care physicians, first-responder authorities,
patient-specified emergency contacts, etc. The patient may
preselect the desired recipients of alerts and this data may be
stored in a component of an alert engine associated with an
embodiment of a location-based health service interface.
In other embodiments, the alert may communicate a suggestion or
instructions to the patient, such as the represented by step 460 of
FIG. 4. The instructions communicated to the patient may be
instructions to reduce or eliminate the patient-specific risk. For
example, it may be determined that a patient with sensitivity to UV
radiation is outdoors. A certain amount of UV radiation exposure to
the patient may not be harmful; however, after a certain threshold
is reached, the patient may suffer negative effects from the
exposure. Having determined, such as from an API described
previously, the level or index of UV radiation for a given area, a
location-based health service interface, or a component of the
location-based health service interface, may determine the amount
of time the patient may spend outdoors in a certain area before
reaching the threshold level of sun exposure that is safe for the
patient. Once the patient reaches the threshold level, the system
may send an alert with instructions to move from the outdoor
location to an indoor location where UV exposure would be reduced
or eliminated.
In another embodiment, the computerized method performed by a
location-based health service interface may be similar to that
described by FIG. 5. In step 500, the location-based health service
interface may receive a hazard report associated with an area. For
example, the hazard report may be received from an API, as
described above. The hazard report may be associated with any
environmental hazard, occupational hazard, or man-made hazard that
may pose a health threat to persons in the area. For example, the
hazard may be an allergen, a dangerous ultraviolet index, a
dangerous air pollution index, a bacterial outbreak, a viral
outbreak, a fungal outbreak, an algal bloom, a chemical spill, a
contaminated water alert, a radiation or radioactivity increase,
and so on. A hazard report may be associated with any activity or
event that may pose a threat to human health or safety, whether the
activity affects all persons in the area or whether the activity
increases the health risks of only persons in the area with
sensitivity to a particular hazard or activity.
In step 510, the health service interface may receive a location of
a patient. As described above in greater detail, the location of a
patient may be sent to the interface from a mobile device capable
of determining location. Additionally, the interface may receive
health information related to the patient's measureable outcome
data from patient wearables, such as heart rate, oxygen stats,
blood pressure, sugar level, etc.
In step 520 of the exemplary method, the health service interface
may determine that the patient's location is within or is proximate
to the area associated with the hazard report or event. For
example, if the interface receives a report that a certain
geographical county is experiencing a hazard associated with an oil
or chemical spill, this could be hazardous to patients that are
exposed. The interface may determine that certain patients are
located within the county experiencing the hazard and may also
determine that other patients are located within counties
surrounding the county experiencing the hazard. In other
embodiments, it may determine that patients are within a certain
distance surrounding the hazard location. In yet other embodiments,
the location distances for determining what patients are proximate
to the hazardous event may be predefined based on the type of
hazard, or may be determined by the integration system as aggregate
data of multiple patients is received, such as detecting the spread
of a contagion.
In step 530, the interface may retrieve the healthcare records
associated with the patients that are within or proximate to the
area associated with the hazard. The healthcare records may be
retrieved from an EMR system.
In step 540, the interface may determine that the hazard poses a
health-related or medical-related risk to the patients within or
proximate to the area. For example, the hazard associated with the
area may be an abnormally high pollen count. Based on the health
records of the patients in or around the area, the interface may
determine that patients with, for example, a diagnosis of asthma; a
history of lung conditions or cancer; or temporarily conditions,
such as the flu or bronchitis, are at risk of aggravating their
individual ailments.
Based on determining that a patient might suffer a health-related
risk, the interface, via an alert engine, might send an alert
notification to a patient. The alert may be in any form that
communicates to the patient that they might be exposed to a hazard
posing a health-related risk or they might have the potential to be
exposed to a hazard posing a health-related risk if they enter a
certain area.
In some embodiments, the method may also comprise step 560,
communicating instructions to the patient on how to reduce or
eliminate the risk. For example, patients suffering from allergies
might be exposed to a pollen count that breaches the safety
threshold for that particular patient. The system may be able to,
based on the healthcare records, suggest the patient increase
preventative medication in order to reduce the chance of a server
allergic reaction that may require the use of a rescue inhaler or
medical care.
In some embodiments, the method may also comprise communicating
instructions to an EMR system to store information about the
patient's location and exposure to health risks. The information
may be associated with the patient in the patient's electronic
medical record so that it may later be accessed by other entities,
such as a primary care physician, an emergency department of a
hospital, an insurance company, etc.
In some embodiments, the system might recommend to a physician
specific orders for a particular patient based on the patient's
location and the patient's exposure to a health-related risk. For
example, a patient might be suffering from a location-based,
health-related risk that causes the patient not to be able to
communicate symptoms to an emergency department physician. The
physician may be able to access the medical records of the patient
and determine that the patient was at a particular location and
exposed to a particular risk. The interface may associate certain
treatments with the risk. The interface may recommend orders
associated with the treatments to the physician. A real-world
example might be determining that a patient was in an area
associated with an epidemic or outbreak of a particular contagion.
The interface may provide information to a treating medical
provider that the patient was in the area associate with a
contagion. It may further recommend orders for the treatments
associated with the contagion. Even if the patient was not able to
communicate to the provider, maybe because of unconsciousness,
their location information, the interface may be able to
communicate this for them as it would have stored this information
on the EMR database or system.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that this disclosure is well
adapted to attain all the ends and objects described above with
other advantages that are obvious and inherent to the
structure.
It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are
of utility and may be employed without reference to other features
and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the
scope of the claims.
Since many possible embodiments may be made of the without
departing from the scope, it is to be understood that all matter in
this application is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a
limiting sense.
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